Foo Alexander C Y, Mueller Geoffrey A
Genome Integrity and Structural Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC, United States.
Front Allergy. 2021 Oct 28;2:769728. doi: 10.3389/falgy.2021.769728. eCollection 2021.
There have been many attempts to identify common biophysical properties which differentiate allergens from their non-immunogenic counterparts. This review will focus on recent studies which examine two such factors: abundance and stability. Anecdotal accounts have speculated that the elevated abundance of potential allergens would increase the likelihood of human exposure and thus the probability of sensitization. Similarly, the stability of potential allergens dictates its ability to remain a viable immunogen during the transfer from the source to humans. This stability could also increase the resilience of potential allergens to both gastric and endosomal degradation, further skewing the immune system toward allergy. Statistical analyses confirm both abundance and stability as common properties of allergens, while epidemiological surveys show a correlation between exposure levels (abundance) and allergic disease. Additional studies show that changes in protein stability can predictably alter gastric/endosomal processing and immunogenicity, providing a mechanistic link between stability and allergenicity. However, notable exceptions exist to both hypotheses which highlight the multifaceted nature of immunological sensitization, and further inform our understanding of some of these other factors and their contribution to allergic disease.
人们曾多次尝试确定能够区分过敏原与其非免疫原性对应物的常见生物物理特性。本综述将聚焦于近期研究，这些研究考察了两个这样的因素：丰度和稳定性。轶事记载推测，潜在过敏原丰度的升高会增加人类接触的可能性，从而增加致敏的概率。同样，潜在过敏原的稳定性决定了其在从来源转移到人类的过程中保持可行免疫原的能力。这种稳定性还可能增加潜在过敏原对胃和内体降解的抵抗力，进一步使免疫系统向过敏方向倾斜。统计分析证实丰度和稳定性是过敏原的共同特性，而流行病学调查显示接触水平（丰度）与过敏性疾病之间存在关联。其他研究表明，蛋白质稳定性的变化可以可预测地改变胃/内体加工和免疫原性，从而在稳定性和致敏性之间建立起一种机制联系。然而，这两种假设都存在显著例外，这突出了免疫致敏的多面性，并进一步加深了我们对其中一些其他因素及其对过敏性疾病的贡献的理解。
